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Murashige, Laura
From: Bob Hunter [robert.m.hunter@hawaiiantel.net]
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 3:56 PM
To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us; Hoffmann, Pete _
Cc: Yagong, Dominic; Ikeda, Donald; Yoshimoto, J; Higa, Stacy; Naeole, Emily; Jacobs4h, Bob~ord,
Brenda; Pilago, K. Angel; cohmayor@co.hawaii.hi.us
e-~
Subject: Support of Bill 318 '
Councilmember Pete Hoffinartn, Chair
Councilmember K. Angel Pilago, Vice Chair x'
Hawaii County Council
1 strongly support Bill 31 S concerning concurrency.
I prefer Council Chair Pete Hoffmann's version of Bill 318.
Passage of Bill 318 will be an important step toward the county's achieving control over the
timing and sequence of development so that growth coincides with our ability to finance and
construct the public facilities needed to accommodate it. [t will encourage the county to link
its land use plan with its capital improvement program. If we continue to ignore this
principle of good planning, we will kill the Golden Goose. Who will want to vacation (or
live, for that matter) in a place that is plagued by worsening traffic jams, poor water quality
and overcrowded public facilities?
I was happy to see that Bill 318 addresses just how much traffic congestion is acceptable on
our State and County road network. I was also happy to see that the bill encourages
rezonings that create jobs that are located and services that are provided nearer to where
people live. [look forward to the day when county residents traveling to and from work do
not get stuck in traffic jams. Passage of U1e proposed bill will send a message to the people
of the county that the council respects the working people on our island. The bill represents a
commitment to focusing our resources and talents on building the transportation facilities
needed to get them to and from work faster, so that they have more time with their families,
and making sure that happens before development allowed by new zoning is occupied.
To be fair to all the developers and to all the county's residents, we need to make sure that all
rezoning applicants, except for affordable housing projects targeted to provide homes for our
working families, participate in the concurrency management system. Also, if an applicant S
can show that his project will actually reduce traffic on specific regional transportation i
facilities, then of course, that applicant should not have to fund extra capacity in those Vf'
facilities. But even applicants asking Cor a downzoning should be responsible for providing
a,J
the information the council and commission needs to make good rezoning decisions. ~ 6
9,
The proposed bill does not stop growth. It does not impose unfair costs on developers. ~ ~
Neither does it downzone property or violate constitutionally guaranteed property rights. It
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does ensure that an applicant for a rezoning cannot make the situation worse than it was
before he began his project. Correcting current infrastructure deficiencies will still be the
responsibility of government, but it wil l be a government that understands where the current
deficiencies are and annually refocuses its capital improvement program on correcting them.
I think the Planning Director has done a great job of tailoring a concun•ency ordinance for
our situation. It will help the council and commission make smart decisions about proposed
zoning changes. All you have to do is to fix a few holes in the net, so that all applicants are
treated the same, and an excellent concurrency management system will have been added to
the zoning code.
Bill 318 would build into the Zoning Code a system of checks and balances. With a
concurrency management system in place, the council and commission would be provided
with the information they need to make smart decisions about proposed changes in zoning.
I compliment the Planning Director in crafting a bill that addresses two of the county's most
critical infrastructure systems, transportation and water supply. He has taken approaches that
have been successfully used for decades in other rapidly growing communities and tailored
them for the unique challenges being laced by 1 [awaii County.
It can be argued that the concurrency management system should address other critical
infrastructure systems, such as parks, solid waste, sewers, fire, police, etc. 1 believe,
however, that a system that adequate addresses transportation and water supply will also take
care of less critically deficient infrastructure systems. [f necessary, these other systems can
be added to the mix after we solve our nu~st pressing problems.
Passage of Bill 318 will encourage our leadership and those building our communities to
think in terms of stewardship of our island home. We must all be participants in that
stewardship: applicants for zoning changes, too.
I urge the council to pass Bill 318. '1'hanl. you fur this opportunity to testify.
Aloha,
Robert M. (Bob) Hunter, Ph.D., P.G.
65-1 l 16 Hokuula Kd.
P.O. Box ?709
Kamuela, HI 96743
tel 808-885-4194
fax 808-885-4114
bob cr webpatentcom
www.webpatentcom
4/18/2007